Road scraper



R. W. KEELER March 2, 1954 ROAD SCRAPER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 7, 1948 INVENTOR. EA'IYMOND WKEEL 65 March 2, 1954 w, KEELER 2,670,551

ROAD SCRAPER Filed Dec. 7, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 JIE. Z

INVEN TOR. PA'YMO/VD W K5611 r56 HIS A'TTOPNEY R. W. KEELER ROAD SCRAPER March 2, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 7, 1948 INVENTOR. 24 YMO/v0 M4 [62 8 H/S 7702/1/6 Y March 2, 1954 R. w. KEELER 2,670,551

ROAD SCRAPER Filed Dec. 7, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IO ll I N VEN TOR.

RAYMOND 14 man 62 March 2, 1954 R. w. KEELER 2,670,551

- ROAD SCRAPER Filed Dec. 7, 1948 5 She'ets-Sheet 5 I JIE. 15

INVENTOR. FAVMO/VO W K561 5E ms flTTOE/VEV Patented Mar. 2, 1954 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROAD SCRAPER Raymond W. Keeler, Marion, Ohio, assignor to The. Huber Manufacturing Company, Marion, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December '7, 1948, Serial No. 63,930

4 Claims.

This. invention relates to road scrapers and; more particularly to'a road scraper of the power operated type.

One object. of the. invention is to provide a road, scraper with simple, compact and eflicient power operated mechanisms for operating the several shafts by which theposition of the scraper blade is controlled.

Av further object at the invention. to provide such an operating mechanism in which the motor and the train of gearing are combined in a unitary structure, with. the motor directly connected with the initial element of the gear train.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a road scraper in which the devices on which the circle gear is rotatably supported may be easily adjusted to take up wear and maintain the same in proper relation to the, gear.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road scraper in which the steering wheels are adjustable to inclined positions and maintained in true parallelism in all positions thereof.

Other objects of the invention may appear as the apparatus described in detail.

In, the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the forward portion of a road scraper embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of the forward portion of such a scraper; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the draw bar and of the means for supporting and operating the circle gear which supports the scraper blade; Fig, 4 is a; section taken on the.

line l- -d' of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5& of Fig. 3;. Fig. 6 is: a section taken onthe line 6.6 of Fig. Fig. '7 is a, section taken on the line .L-i of 3.; Fig. 8 is a section taken. on the line 8ii of Fig. 3; 9 is a front elevation of one of. the driving units; Fig. l0 is a. section taken. on the line lH-l1ii of Fig. 9'; Fig. 11 is a section taken on the line H-Il of Fig. 1.0; Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line l2-l2 of Fig. 1.1.; Fig. 13" a front elevation, partly in section. of a. portion of the front axle. and the means for adjusting one of the steering wheels and Figs. 14 to 17 inclusive are schematic views showing the steering wheels in different posi tions with relation to the vertical plane of the main frame.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same in connection with. a road scraper of a well known type. It is to be understood, howcvcr',..thetthe invention is not limited to this typeof road scraper and that the 2 invention as a whole, as Well as the several partsthereof, may take various forms and may be assembled in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Inthe drawings I have illustrated only the front part of the road scraper, including the: front portion of the main frame 20 and the steering wheels 21; machine includes the traction wheels and the power plant, which may be of the conventional type, or any suitable type, and are not necessary to the understanding of the invention. I

The frame 28 has at. its forward end a downwardly extending part 22 which is connected with and. supported by the steering wheels 21. A draw bar 2.3 is pivotally connected at its forward end with the part. 22 of the main frame, pref erably bya. universalv connection as, and extends rearwardly therefrom. The draw bar comprises two longitudinal parts '25- which diverge rearwardly from an intermediate portion of the draw bar and are. rigidly connected one with the other at their rear ends by a transverse member, or plate, 26 which extends laterally beyond the rear end portions of the parts 25 and which is provided with an upwardly extending part or flange 2?. Supported on the main frame in the rear of the draw bar is an upright structure 28, commonly called a breast plate, in the rear of which is located the operators station or platform 29'. Mounted on or adjacent to the breast plate is a steering shaft 30 which is connected at its forward end with the steering wheels 2| by conventional mechanism and is provided at its rear end with a wheel 3'! or other suitable device for rotating the same; Also mounted adjacent the breast plate are levers 32, or other actuating devices, for controlling the motors which operate the various parts of the mechanism, as will be hereinafter described.

A scraper blade 33 extends transversely to the draw bar beneath the latter and is connected with the draw bar for adjustment about a vertical axis; In the present arrangement the blade is secured to angular arms 34 which in turn are secured to a large diameter gear 35, commonly called. a circle gear, which is supported by the draw bar for rotation in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the draw bar. In the present instance the gear is provided with in ternal teeth and has a circumferential flange 36 extending downwardly from the outer edge thereof, to which flange the blade supporting arms 34 are secured. The means for rotatably supporting the circle gear on the draw bar will be here- The rear portion of the inafter described. For the purpose of adjusting the blade 33 vertically, laterally and about a longitudinal axis there are provided three rock shafts 3?, 38 and 39 which are rotatably supported at their rear ends in bearings on the breast plate 28 and extend forwardly therefrom and are supported in bearings 40 on the main frame. The rock shafts 31 and 38 terminate above and adjacent the respective sides of the draw bar and each shaft has rigidly secured thereto an out wardly extending crank arm 4| which is connected by an upright link 42 with the adjacent side portion of the draw bar, as by connecting it with the upright part 21 of the transverse member 26 of the draw bar on the outer side of the adjacent side member 25 of the latter. The third rock shaft 39 is provided at its forward end with a downwardly extending crank arm 43 which is connected by a transversely extending link 44 with the draw bar adjacent one lateral edge thereof, as shown at 45. Thus it will be apparent that by rocking the shafts 3! and 38 about their axes the draw bar may be adjusted vertically or may be tilted about a longitudinal axis by rocking one of the shafts to a greater extent than the other is rocked. Likewise the rocking of the shaft 39 will move the draw bar in a substantially horizontal direction transverse to the main frame.

The rock shafts are driven by separate fluid operated rotary motors each of which is connected with the corresponding shaft through a train of speed reducing gearing which is preferably enclosed in a casing. The motor, the gearing and the casing for each shaft are assembled as a unitary structure which is of a. compact form and can be conveniently mounted on upright structure. The three unitary structures for operating the three rock shafts are identical in construction and each comprises a relatively shallow gear casing 46 the rear side of which is rigidly secured to the forward side of the breast plate 28. The construction of one of these structures is shown in Figs. 9 to 12 and as there shown the front wall 41 of the casing i provided with a hub portion 48 through which one end of one of the rock shafts, in the present instance the shaft 38, extends into the casing, the hub being provided within the casing with a bearing to rotatably support the shaft. Mounted in the casing and directly connected with the shaft 38 is the low speed element of the gear train, here shown as a worm gear 49, which is rigidly mounted on and splined to the shaft and is provided with a hub portion 50 which is supported in the bearing 5! in the front wall of the casing. A worm 52 meshes with the worm gear 49, extends transversely to the shaft 38 and has its end portions 53 rotatably mounted in bearings 54 at the respective sides of the casing. Rigidly connected with the worm 52 is a small diameter worm gear 55, which in the present instance is pressed on and keyed to the projecting end portion 53 of the worm gear, and which meshes with a worm 55 extending lengthwise of the rock shaft 38 and having its shaft 51 rotatably supported in bearings 58, the worm 56 constituting the high speed element of the gear train. Mounted on the casing 46 is a fluid operated rotary motor, preferably a hydraulic motor which may be of a conventional type, or any suitable type, which it is not necessary to describe except to note that the motor includes a casing 59 and a motor shaft 60. The motor casing is secured directly to the.

gear casing, as by screws 5 I, in such position'that 4 the motor shaft 60 is in axial alinement with the worm shaft 51. The two shafts are rigidly connected one with the other and as here shown the shafts are provided with interlocking jaw type connectors 62 which are keyed to the respective shafts and retained thereon by nuts 63. The connection between the motor casing and the gear casing retains the connectors in interlocking positions so that the worm 56 is rotated at the speed of the motor shaft. The motor is, of course, connected with a source of fluid under pressure and is controlled by one of the actuating devices 32 at the operators station. The controlling mechanism being of conventional character is not here shown.

It has been customary to support the circle gear from the draw bar by means of hangers secured to the draw bar, extending downwardly therefrom and having lateral parts extending beneath the circle gear in supporting relation thereto. The rotation of the gear with relation to the hangers causes substantial wear on the latter and heretofore it has been necessary, in order to take up that wear, to remove the hanger and insert or remove one or more shims between the same and the gear. This required considerable labor and time and it was difficult to secure the exact adjustment which was desired, that is to so adjust the hanger that the gear would be free to rotate with relation thereto but would be held against vertical movement with relation thereto. To avoid these difiiculties the present hangers are of such a character that the wear can be taken up without removing any part of the hanger. In the preferred arrangement there are three hangers, two of these hangers, 64, being arranged below the projecting ends of the transverse member 26 of the draw bar. Each hanger 64 comprises an upright portion having therethrough an opening 66 to receive an attaching bolt 61 which extends through the member 25 and the opening 66 and is provided at its lower end with a nut 68 by which the hanger may be clamped tightly to the member 26. At its lower end the hanger is provided with a lateral projection 69 which extends beneath and in supporting relation to the circle gear 35. Interposed between the part 69 of the hanger and the lower surface of the gear is a wear plate It. Means are provided for adjusting the wear plate with relation to the hanger from beneath the latter. For this purpose an adjusting device is carried by the horizontalportion 59 of the hanger and is so connected with the wear plate that the latter can be moved upwardly thereby. The adjusting device is here shown as a screw threaded element H which extends through an opening in the horizontal member 69 and into engagement with the lower side of the wear plate. Preferably the upper end of the screw is provided with an unthreaded portion T2 which extends into a recess in the lower side of the wear plate and holds the latter against horizontal displacement. The screw H is provided with a lock nut 13 to retain the same in its adjusted position. The number of adjusting devices provided depends of course, upon the length of the wear plate and in the present instance two adjusting devices are provided, as shown in Fig. 5. It is also desirable to provide a wear plate between the upper surface of the gear and the lower surface of the overhanging portion of the draw bar. In Fig. 4 a second wear plate is shown at 14 and is secured to the part 26 of the draw bar by ascrew 15 the head of which teeth of the gear. ing device, such as a screw 18, is mounted in and omega:

seated in a-recess Hi in the lower side of the wear plate-M, the recess being of a-. depth substantially greater than the thickness or the screw head so thata substantial portion of the plate must be worn away before the screw head will engage the'gear. Inasmuch as the gear rests upon the lower wear plate the adjustment of the latter moves the gear towardthe upper wear plate 14, and by properly manipulating-the adjusting devides the lower wear plate and the gear may be so positioned that the gear will have snug running contact with both wear plates. In the present arrangement the upper end of the upright part 65 0f the hanger is approximately flush the upper surface of the gear and a spacing plate TE is interposed between the hanger and the draw bar.

The teeth of the gear preferably have-light running contact with the upper portion of the hanger to prevent the lateral displacement of the gear and" it is desirable that the hanger should also be laterally adjustable to compensate for any wear on that part thereof which contacts the For that purpose and adjustha's screw'threaded connection with a bracket 1'9 which depends from the draw bar and the inner end of the screw engages that surface of the hanger which is opposite the surface engaged by the teeth of the gear.' Thus by slightly loosening the nut 68 on the attaching bolt 6? the hanger can be adjusted laterally by actuating the screw 18. It will be understood, of course,

that the hanger is arcuate in form so that that portion thereof which engages the gear teeth conforms substantially to the contour of the gear.

The circle gear is rotated by a pinion 80 to adjust the scraper blade 33 abouta vertical'axis. The pinion is carried by a shaft Bl connected with a gear train in a gear casing 82 which is driven by a fluid operated rotary motor '83 mounted on the casing, the construction of the casing, the gear train and the motor being substantially identical with those described in connectionwith the rock shafts, and the shaft 8| being rotatably mounted in a bearing in the lower side of the casing. This unitary structure is mounted on the draw bar with the pinion 80in mesh with the teeth of the gear 35. A plate 84' is rigidly secured to the lower side of the draw bar and extends between the gear casing 82' and the pinion 80, and is provided with an opening through which the pin-ion shaft extends. a The third hanger, 85, is supported beneath the plate 84' and comprises two arcuate members 86 arranged on opposite sides of the pinion 80 and these two parts are rigidly connected one withthe other by a substantially' semi-circular portion 86a which extends about the pinion. As best shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 each part as of the hanger 85 has a lateral portion 81 which extends beneath the gear and a wear plate 88 is interposed between each part 81 and the lower surface of the gear, and a second wear plate 89 is interposed between the upper surface of the wear plate and the overhanging part 26 of the draw bar. The hanger is secured to the draw bar by bolts 90 extending through the plate 84 and through slots 90a in the hanger, in the manner above described. Likewise adjusting screws 9! operable from beneath the hanger serve to adjust the lower wear plate with relation to the gear and to adjust the gear with relation to the upper wear plate 89. The.

hanger 85 as a whole is adjusted by screws 92 mounted in brackets 93 depending from the part parts. The structure is highly eflicient in operationzand can be produced at a low cost.

' In operating aroad grader. over uneven surfaces it is often desirable to tilt the steering wheels with relation to the vertical so as to provide a more adequate support for the frame and the parts carriedthereby and it is desirable that means should be provided for maintaining steering wheels in true parallelism one with the other in all positions to which they may be moved. In

the present road scraper the front axle 95 is pivotally connected, at a point 96 substantially midway between the ends thereof, with the lower part of the downwardly extending end portion 22 of the main frame and the end portions of the axle slope downwardly and outwardly from that pivotal axis. Wheel supporting members, or hangers, 91 are pivotally mounted on the respective and portions of the axle, adjacentthe outer ends thereof, on axes parallel with the pivotal axis of the axle, as shownat 98a, and extend upwardly from their pivotal connections with the axle." Each hanger isprovided with outwardly extending parts 98 and 99 in which is rotatably mounted an upright member N30 to which is rigidly secured the spindleilfll on which the corresponding'wheel is rotatably mounted. Rods 102 are pivotally connected at their outer ends with the upper portions of the wheel supporting member-s91, as shown at Hi3. Each rodextends inwardly from the wheel supporting member and is secured at its inner end to the upper portion of a rock arm I04 which is pivoted at H15 in the lower portion of the part 22 of the main frame and extends upwardly between the sidemembers of the frame. The two rods N32 are pivotally connected with the crank arm I04 on a common axis and the height of the pivotal connections above the pivotal axis 96 of the axle is such that, when the wheels are in their vertical positions', the rods 1-52 are parallel with the respective sloping end portions of the axle. Means are 'provided for actuating the crank arm' I04 to move the wheels about the axes'of the wheel supporting members to the desired degree of inclination'and for retaining th'ern'in the positions to which they have been adjusted, In the particular arran'ge m'nt here shown a second crank arm IE5 is rig idly connected with the crank arm I64, as by rigidly securing it to the shaft H35, and the outer end of this second crank arm is pivotally-connected with the lower end'of the piston rod till of a substantially vertical reciprocatory hydraulic motor 108. The motor I08 is here shown as pivotally supported at its upper end on the frame. This motor is connected with a suitable source of fluid supply and the operation thereof is controlled by one of the controlling devices at the operators platform. Thus the operator can at any timeduring the operation of the machine positively move the steering wheels to inclined positions with relation to the vertical plane of the main frame and maintain the same in those positions, and the wheels will at all times be in true, or substantially true, parallelism one with the other regardless of the degree of inclination.

While I have shown and described one embodi- 7 ment of my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a road scraper, a vehicle frame, a draw bar connected with the forward portion of said frame and extending rearwardly therefrom, a scraper blade extending transversely to said frame below said draw bar, a circle gear above said blade and having supporting connection therewith, hangers carried by said draw bar and supporting said gear for rotation in a substantially horizontal plane, each hanger having a part extending beneath and in supporting relation to said gear, a wear plate between said part of said hanger and the lower surface of said gear, a second wear plate between the upper surface of said gear and an overhanging part of said draw bar, and an adjusting device mounted in that part of said hanger which is beneath said gear and operable to move the lower wear plate and said gear toward said draw bar.

2. In a road scraper, a vehicle frame, a draw bar connected with the forward portion of said frame and extending rearwardly therefrom, a scraper blade beneath said draw bar and extending transversely thereto, a circle gear above said blade and having supporting connection therewith, a pinion meshing with said gear, means carried by said draw bar for supporting and rotating said pinion, and means for supporting said gear on said draw bar for rotation with relation thereto, including a plate carried by said draw bar above said gear, a hanger below said plate having an arcuate intermediate portion extending about said pinion, and end portions close to said gear and conforming to the contour thereof, each of said end portions having a part extending beneath said gear in supporting relation thereto and an upright surface adapted to engage the teeth of said gear, means for connecting said hanger to said plate for movement toward said gear and for preventing the vertical movement of said hanger with relation to said plate, wear plates between said gear and the first mentioned parts of said end portions of said hanger, adjusting devices extending through said first mentioned parts and operable to move said wear plates toward the first mentioned plate, and other devices supported by said plate and operable to move said hanger as a whole toward the teeth of said gear.

3. In a road scraper, a vehicle frame, a draw bar connected with the forward portion of said frame and extending rearwardly therefrom, a scraper blade extending transversely to said frame below said draw bar, a circle gear above said blade and having supporting connection therewith, hangers carried by said draw bar and having parts extending beneath and in supporting relation to said gear, a pinion meshing with said gear, a gear casing mounted on said draw bar, a train of gearing in said casing including a high speed element and a low speed element, a shaft connected with said pinion, extending into said gear casing and directly connected with said low speed element, a rotatable motor including a motor casing and a motor shaft, said motor casing and said gear casing having opposed parts rigidly secured one to the other and forming between them a space into which said motor shaft and a part of said high speed element extend, means in said space for drivingly connecting said motor shaft with said high speed element, a wear plate interposed between said gear and the supporting part of each hanger, a second wear plate between the upper surface of said gear and an overhanging part of said draw bar, and an adjusting device mounted in that part of said hanger which is beneath said gear and operable to move the lower wear plate and said gear towards said draw bar.

4. In a road scraper, a vehicle frame, a draw bar connected with the forward portion of said frame and extending rearwardly therefrom, a scraper blade extending transversely to said frame below said draw bar, a circle gear above said blade and having supporting connection therewith, hangers carried by said draw bar having parts extending beneath and in supporting relation to said gear, said gear being rotatable with relation to said hangers, wear plates between said gear and the respective hangers, parts carried by said draw bar and engaging the upper surface of said gear to limit the upward movement thereof, and adjusting devices mounted on the supporting parts of said hangers and engaging said wear plates to move the same upwardly to compensate for the wear on said hanger,

RAYMOND W. KEELER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,698,435 Gustafson Jan. 8, 1929 1,839,755 Gledhill Jan. 5, 1932 2,024,994 Cost Dec. 17, 1935 2,034,141 Gustafson Mar. 17, 1936 2,074,081 Burns Mar. 16, 1937 2,128,881 Iverson Aug. 30, 1938 2,189,286 Gustafson Feb. 6, 1940 2,189,344 Gustafson Feb. 6, 1940 2,205,588 Arndt June 25, 1940 2,282,753 Arndt May 12, 1942 2,340,169 Arndt Jan. 25, 1944 2,365,146 Wichorek Dec. 12, 1944 2,494,324 Wright Jan. 10, 1950 

